High Seas Series
The Explorers
Book Two
Chapter 06
Charles W Bird
©2016
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This story is a fictional account of a period that begins after The Carson Family and their many ships had settled in Australia and helped civilization to cling to life after much of the world had suffered from Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and chronicles what happens to that family, who had saved many youngsters from death or a life so horrible, death would have been welcomed.. While the story is completely fictional, actual names, characters, places and incidents that might coincide with actions, places, people or events have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty or are the product of my imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The actual shipboard processes, however, are based upon experiences of the author.
This story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced by any means without my express, written permission.
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From Chapter 5: The two young men looked nervous and, finally Andy blurted out, “Dad, we got some problems on board.” Curious, Robby asked, “What kind of problems?” He had an awful feeling that he KNEW what the problems were. They came on two legs! The two young men had collected eight young boys that they had snatched from a coffle of slaves in Jakarta!
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BOY’S TOWN
As the largest cargo carrier in the Carson Fleet, the Gabe was at sea much of the time. Captain Robard Walkingstone and his son, Third Mate Andrew Robard Walkingstone were well known throughout the country. Their exploits were regularly reported in Australia’s leading newspapers and, although he was never mentioned by name, Andy’s beloved mate, Naki was also well known. That Naki’s real name was Crown Prince Nakihito Anjimoto of Japan was never mentioned nor that Naki’s Uncle, Prince Shinzi, was also on board the Gabe. Uncle Shinzi watched over his nephew like a hawk watching a chicken.
To the outside world, Naki was known and Naki Carson, like so many other boys who had been rescued by the Carson Family over the years. That he was a skilled trader and negotiator was also well known throughout the region and many traders suspected he could read minds. In that, they were correct, however he would neither confirm nor deny the other traders’ allegations.
The Gabe had been in Port Onslow for only a few days when rail cars began lining up on the pier with cargo for their next voyage. Naki had asked for some changes to be made on The Gabe, he asked that a bunk room be built that had sufficient space and facilities for thirty youngsters, twenty bunks for boys and ten bunks for girls in a partitioned off area.
The area was to be in Number 2 hold and, once the hatch covers were battened down, it was only accessible from the passageway directly outside of his and Andy’s stateroom.
Robby saw the sense in Naki’s request and the welders were frantically finishing up an area they had dubbed, “Boy’s Town”. It was a label that would stick, most of the rescued children would be boys, although, a few girls would be part of the mix.
Two days later, the Gabe sailed for Manila. Manila was not a huge trading partner, but recently, they had ordered large amounts of building materials and farm machinery. Naki surmised they were opening up an area for small farmers to get a “toehold”
Their entire capacity was filled with farm machinery and building materials bound for Manila. Naki hoped he could arrange a cargo that would carry them onward, to have to return to homeport empty would shame him as Purser! Andy had tried to tell him that was not the case, but, to Naki, “face” was very important!
They departed Onslow on the morning tide and sailed north for Sunda Strait and the Java Sea. From there they would pass into The South China Sea and straight into Manila.
It was an easy voyage, the weather remained mild and none of the terrible storms for which the area was noted, showed up. Fifteen days later, they were nosing into Manila Bay.
They had docking privileges at the Jewels Street Pier in Navotas City, an industrial suburb of Manila. Navotas was a rundown industrial city and Andy was going to run herd on Naki. He was not about to have the love of his life exposed to agents of The Council of Nobles again!
Both Andy and Naki’s Uncle Shinzi would accompany Naki any time he went ashore. Neither of them were willing to take any further chances on Naki’s life OR his freedom!
Naki went ashore with his two most important bodyguards and met with the Carson Shipping Representative. The government was anxious for their shipment and the Factor had already collected payment for both the materials and freight.
It was broad daylight when the party headed back to the ship and both Naki and Andy invited Uncle Shinzi to join them for lunch at the Naval Street Café, a place that had been famous since the American Occupation of The Philippine Islands several hundreds of years before.
Neither Andy nor Uncle Shinzi could see any objections, so they entered the building and were promptly seated. Two hours later and pleasantly stuffed, they began their return to the Gabe. As they walked by a tumbled down warehouse, a small boy called to them, “Meesters yous wanna feels good?”
Both Naki and Andy knew immediately what was going on, although Uncle Shinzi required a hurried explanation. Andy and Naki knelt down beside the child, he could not have been more than four or five years old. It was hard to tell, the child was so dirty and obviously he had not been eating well for some time, his stomach was bloated and his arms and legs were merely skin covered bones and he smelled abominably.
Both Andy and Naki were fluent Tagalog speakers and both were accomplished mind speakers. Despite the child’s terrible smell, Andy put his arms around the child and got him to tell them where his “brothers” were hiding. They had been through this routine before and they all knew just what to expect.
Both young men ducked into the abandoned building and were confronted by ten young boys ranging in age from about five years old to twelve or thirteen years old. Both Naki and Andy sat on the dirt floor holding ‘Paco’, the boy who had confronted them on the street.
They took it slow, saying nothing and doing nothing as the boys looked them over. Finally, the oldest boy asked, “Yous do’n want usins? Yous no like good feel?”
Naki held onto Andy and spoke slowly to the boys, “No, we do not want you boys for sex things, but, if you will come with us, we will feed you, give a clean safe place to sleep and take you all away from this horrible place!”
The older boy shouted, “Us’n No Slavos!”
Andy replied in a very calm voice, although he was seething in anger inside, “No, you are not and will not be slaves, you are all free boys. We will take you with us on our ship and give you new homes and new families in Australia. We are part of the Carson Shipping Clan and we will give you all a new life in our land, a life that does not include you selling your bodies to perverts and sex fiends in order to survive.”
There was not a dry eye among the boys and both Andy and Naki had a hard time keeping from tears themselves. They told themselves that the could cry later, but they were kept so busy taking care of the the new boys, they never found the opportunity to cry. The gangway watch was not surprised when Andy and Naki, accompanied by Uncle Shinzi, led a group of eleven youngsters up the gangway. In a few minutes, the demand for hot water was noted in the Engine Room.
Cookie brought sandwiches and a green leaf salad into the new “bunkroom” and set out paper plates for the boys who were trying on new clothes that had been stacked on a table in their new home. Some of the boys had never seen underwear and had to be shown how to tie their shoes, they had never worn shoes before.
As soon as they had showered and eaten, they grew sleepy and Andy showed them how to slip into the bunks that had clean sheets and clean blankets on them and were not crawling with “wildlife”! Uncle Shinzi told Andy and Naki that he would sit with the children while they got something to eat themselves and he whispered, “You need a shower before you eat, you may have bugs!”
Andy and Naki showered together, they had long ago given up attempts at modesty between them. They did, indeed, have “bugs” and they sprinkled bug powder liberally around their private parts and any place that had hair where the bugs could hide.
The Gabe spent the next two days offloading cargo. Naki managed to arrange for a cargo of lumber to be delivered to a furniture manufacturer in Jakarta. He then got on the radio and managed to get a cargo that would take them from Jakarta to Singapore. The Singapore cargo was bulky, but light in weight. It was stamped metal parts that would become chassis for electronic equipment.
Naki was becoming skilled at negotiating smaller cargo lots that he was able to purchase outright. His previous ventures of that sort has proven so profitable, the Board of Carson Shipping had given him “carte blanche” authorization to purchase an unlimited amount of private cargo in the name of Carson Trading Company.
In Jakarta, Naki had purchased 5,000 tons of high value furniture grade tropical hardwoods, all wrapped in oiled paper. He filled a large part of the forward hold with the wood.
They arrived in Singapore several days later and began offloading cargo as soon as they were tied up.
SINGAPORE SLING
The offloading was going slowly as the cargo from Manila was easily damaged. Naki decided to go ashore to see if he could replace the cargo they were discharging. He knew he could not go ashore alone, so he waited until Andy was off watch.
He stepped ashore with high hopes of filling up Number Two cargo hold. He was surrounded by his usual body guard, Andy and Uncle Shinzi. Both were “loaded for boar”! They were carrying enough fire power to start a small revolution.
They called at two shipping agencies until they learned of a trader who was looking for transport of large earth moving equipment. They went to speak with a Mr. Bulawsi of Gahki Machine Company, where Naki negotiated a very favorable contract to purchase the machinery outright in the name of Carson Traders.
They told Mr. Bulawsi that they were tied up at the Keppel Street Pier and he produced a Performance Bond for the full amount of the purchase to be delivered the next day to the ship.
It was still early in the afternoon, so the group decided to walk back to the ship as it was only a few blocks away. He had a grin on his face and Andy knew right away that he had some devious plan hatched in his mind. He was pretty sure what it involved as he had spotted his mate looking in the open door of an old warehouse as they walked by on their way to Gahki Machine Company.
He was not wrong. Uncle Shinzi only smiled as the two young men slipped into the door of an old warehouse. Inside were a dozen young boys, some of whom were injured. They had bloody wounds on their backs that Andy immediately identified as whip marks!
Two of the boys were so badly injured that they could not walk and had to be carried. Andy and Naki promised the boys that they would be given new lives and new families and would live in a place where they were safe and did not have to performs sex acts in order to eat. He further promised that whips would never be used on them again! EVER!
With some hesitation, the boys followed Naki and Andy out of the old warehouse. Andy was carrying two small boys who could not walk because of their injuries and Naki held another in his arms.
The youngsters drew back in fear when they spotted Uncle Shinzi, but he swooped down and picked up two small boys in his massive arms and cuddled one on each hip as they headed back to the ship.
They were followed by some gang members, but the size of Uncle Shinzi and Andy Walkingstone made them fearful of getting too close to those “walking mountains”!
As they boarded the Gabe, the boys that Andy was carrying were riding his hips like they were in a sling and the crew laughingly called them “Andy’s Singapore Sling”! It was a name that stuck and thereafter whenever Andy brought rescued children on board, they were referred to as his “Singapore Sling”!
They took on cargo the next day and sailed the day after that, on their way to Busan, Korea.
BUSAN HIGH JINKS
They sailed out through the Singapore Straits into the South China Sea and headed north for Korea. The two Koreas had merged sometime after the collapse and were a single country once again.
The old regime of the North had disappeared completely and, with the assistance of Naki’s Father and his home country of Japan, the New Korea was making a rapid comeback. Their industry was surging and once vacant land was being returned to productive farming, despite that the new regime in Japan no longer was helping them.
Korea was a dangerous place for Naki, it was known that agents of the Council of Nobles had operatives in the country. Andy had insisted that Naki remain on board the Gabe and he would perform any transactions through Andy.
That did not sit well with Naki, but he was faced with Uncle Shinzi sitting on him, if necessary, to insure that he stayed on board the ship. He was to learn that Andy was nearly as sharp a trader as himself!
They off loaded the Busan Cargo and Andy was hard pressed to find a cargo to fill the void in the hold. It was not until he saw a billboard advertising Korea motors Corporation that he had an idea. The next day, he took the train to Seoul, the capital and where the headquarters of Korea Motors was located.
There, he called on the Vice President of Sales and introduced himself. The man, Joel Yeung, spoke perfect English and said that he had met the Carson Shipping Trader, a Mr. Naki Carson sometime before. Andy replied, “Naki is my Life Partner.”
Joel Yeung didn’t bat an eyebrow and continued, “I have two hundred small trucks for you, they are already on their way to Busan and should be there this evening.” He showed Andy a copy of the shipping order and then asked, “Would you be interested in five hundred four cylinder engines and transmissions?”
Andy asked the dimensions of the engines and transmissions and then did some “guesstimate calculations” in his head before replying, “Yes, I know where I can sell them, so we will buy them outright from you.” He produced his trading credentials and signed the sales order on the spot.
He hoped that he was doing the right thing as he had only watched Naki in operation before.
As it turned out, Naki was very proud of him and claimed that he, himself, could not have done any better!
A TRAIN RIDE
With his business completed, Andy caught the afternoon train back to Busan. It would be midnight before he could get back to the ship, but he did not like being separated from his mate any longer than was absolutely necessary.
He was dozing in his private sleeper when he heard a commotion outside his door. He opened the door and spotted a rail official manhandling a young boy, who appeared to be of mixed Asian and Caucasian heritage.
Thinking fast, he hollered at the man and said, “Why are you terrorizing my son?” Andy was obviously Caucasian and the Rail Conductor immediately apologized and replied, “I am very sorry sir, I thought he was a stowaway and I was going to put him off the train at the next station, sir.”
Andy spoke passable Korean and he said, “Son, you should be in bed, we have a busy day tomorrow!” The child looked a bit bewildered, but he scooted into safety in the nice man’s private compartment.
As soon as Andy closed the door, he spoke in Korean and said, “You are safe now, they think you are my son. You can sleep here. I will be getting off at Busan Station, where my friends are waiting for me.”
The young boy leaped into Andy’s lap and curled up. He was obviously exhausted and he fell asleep almost immediately. Andy sat on the setee with the boy in his lap. As Andy ran his fingers through the little boy’s hair, the child smiled in his sleep and let out a contented coo.
Andy thought, “I am pretty sure he is on his own, could I….. Could we…. Would he be our son?” It felt so right and the child even looked a bit like himself.
As the train pulled into Busan Terminal, the child woke up and had a fearful look on his face. He was sure the man would leave him in the train station. Andy said gently in Korean, “I don’t know your name yet, but, would you be my and my partner’s son. Live with us on our ship and grow up as our boy?”
The child said, “Me splek onglis, you not things sex do me? Yous no hurted me? Yous gots fud me eat?”
Andy smiled and held the child close, despite his rank smell and replied, again in Korean so he could be sure the child understood him, “Yes, you would be my and my partner’s own son and live with us on our ship. I am the Third Mate on a cargo ship and my Papa is the Captain. My mate is the ship’s Purser, the man who handles all the money.”
The child looked up at this strange white man and looked hard in his eyes, trying to detect any sign of falsehood. Finding only love and concern in the man’s face, he replied, “Me OOK SON LEE, me like yous. Yous give OOK SON LEE nice hugs”
So it was that Andy Walkingstone dismounted the train and met his Father, Captain Robard Walkingstone and his Life Partner, Purser Naki Carson with a “hip hugger hanging from his waist.
Robby knew his son well and just smiled. Naki peered at the child and laughed, he said in perfect Korean, “He even looks like you!” He bent down and kissed the child on the forehead and whispered in Korean, Welcome home, son!”
The child insisted he be given a “Merican Name” and after some thought, Andy and Naki came up Nicholas Andrew Walkingstone. He would be called Nicky, a name very similar to his “other Daddy’s name.
Nicky was very intelligent, although he had never been to school, he absorbed knowledge like a sponge. His English improved daily and he demanded of his Daddies that he learn to read.
He refused to tell them how he had survived or where he had come from and Andy and Naki really did not want to know. All that was important was that Nicky was their son. It would be the very first thing they did when they got back to Australia, that they went before the local judge and formally adopted the boy.
ON TO JAPAN
They sailed for their last call in the north, Tokyo. Winter was beginning to close in and the seas were violent and very rough as they made the crossing. Nicky seemed to thrive and loved standing on the Bridge with his Daddy Andy as Andy stood his watch. The boy never seemed to get seasick and every meal he ate enough for two people. His gaunt features rounded out and, by the time they reached Tokyo, he had outgrown his trousers around the waist and the legs were “high-water”!
Naki stayed hidden on the ship, never showing his face to the outside world. They were taking no chances that the minions of the Council of Nobles would recognize him and attempt to kidnap him.
Andy did take Nicky ashore and bought him an arm load of new clothing that actually fit him. Andy chose several new pairs of shoes and Nicky asked why so many, he could only wear one pair at a time. Andy whispered in his ear and said, “Cause I like buying shoes for you!”
When they got back to the ship, Nicky proudly showed his other Daddy all his new clothes and thought nothing of stripping down to bare skin to try on all the clothes his Daddy Andy had bought for him. He knew, by then, that neither of his Daddies would do anything to him and that they would kill anyone who tried!
He admired his Daddy Andy, his huge size and muscles impressed the boy. Nicky vowed to himself that he was going to be as strong as his Daddy Andrew and as smart as his Daddy Naki as soon as possible!
The boy would achieve both goals as he grew up. However, no matter how big or how smart he became, he was always his Daddies’ First Boy.
THE RETURN TO AUSSIE LAND
With their holds full of trade cargo for Australia, the Gabe headed for home. They all felt that it had been a profitable voyage and better, Andy and Naki had found a son. Still better, Captain Robard Walkingstone had discovered a Grandson! As far as Robby was concerned, the boy walked on water. He would sit by the hour reading to him and telling him outrageous sea stories.
It took Nicky a while to understand that Gampa’s tales were just stories and that sea monsters and giants did not really exist.
Nicky spent a lot of time with his Grandfather and it was beginning to look like there just might be another mate in the Family. Nicky seemed to understand what his Grandfather was telling him about ships and how they worked. He was interested in the Engine Room, but it was soon apparent that he really loved the Bridge.
As they sailed back towards home, the weather turned warmer and the seas smoothed out and became like a sheet of glass. It was an easy trip home, they had run out of the winter storms as soon as they entered the Philippine Sea.
Nicky mingled with the other boys who had been rescued and were living in “Boys’ Town”. It was a friendship that would last a lifetime and, when it became necessary, Nicky had his own “Protection Squad”!
By the time they reached Onslow Bay, Nicky was reading simple books and working arithmetic problems. True, he was slow, but he had the determination to learn and be like his Daddies!
That he was a leader was evident, no matter where he went on the ship, there were at least two boys from Boys’ Town covering his back. It was decided that those two boys who had been collected on that voyage would become permanent residents of Boys’ Town.
As they pulled into their pier at Onslow, there was the usual crowd on the pier, waiting to greet the children who had been collected during the voyage. Nicky and his two Boy Body Guards hugged each boy as he departed the ship.
They had all become close friends during their stay on The Gabe and, in later years, they would form a group that worked closely with Nicky and his two body guards to form a “flying squad” that went with the Flag Ship and would perform daring deeds as they rescued children wherever The Gabe sailed.
That, however, would be a couple of years in the future and, by then Nicky would be the Captain of The Gabe and his Daddy Andy would be the Superintendent of the Carson Fleet.
The offloading of the Gabe went swiftly, orders for cargo had piled up during the Gabe’s absence. The refinery at Brunei was expanding and steel was badly needed. It was going to be a “turn-around” sailing.
As soon as off-loading was completed, the steel that was being accumulated pier side in preparation for loading was assigned for the refinery.. Hardly had the incoming cargo cleared the hatches, steel was being swung aboard by the cranes. It was scheduled to be a heavy load.
Andy and his Dad, Robard, filled the Board in on what had taken place during the voyage. Andy was recalled to the ship before the report was complete, the workmen were making permanent the temporary partitions that had enclosed Boys’ Town and they needed his authorization to complete the job.
While he was aboard, he and Naki interviewed several instructors who were going to be the teachers for Nicky and any additional children they collected in the future.
Both he and Naki wanted to employ strong mind-speakers for the job, they both wanted to be sure that Niki was able to develop his mind speaking abilities to the fullest. They already knew that his raw talent was more powerful than most adults, including themselves.
They both suspected that it was Nicky who had caused the physical damage to the warehouse where they had discovered a group of boys who had been held captive and were being rented out to wealthy businessmen in Manila. Whenever they questioned their son about the matter, he would merely grin and provide no answers.
TURN-AROUND SAILING
In less than a week, the Gabe was loaded and they were ready to head to Brunei, loaded to the limit with prefabricated steel parts for the refinery addition.
As they were sailing out of Onslow Harbor, Naki was frantically tallying up the cargo manifests and Andy had the Bridge as they pulled away from the pier. Nicky was standing in the corner of the Bridge watching proudly as his Papa maneuvered the huge vessel away from the pier and out of the harbor. He had plans of his own and he was determined that he would follow in his Papa’s footsteps!
It was a calm and peaceful voyage up the west coast of Australia. They passed through Sunda Straits without incident. The long ago island of Krakatoa had left small islets along the channel, after it had blown up in a fiery explosion of volcanic fury several centuries before.
The Jalan Raja Isteri Refinery was located in Seria on the Northwest Coast of the country. It was not a large town and it was totally dedicated to the refinery. There were no “tourist” attractions of any kind, not even a snack bar or sleazy hotel.
In its earlier days, Seria had been a den of pirates, but, now, its inhabitants either worked for the refinery or in some business that supported the refinery. That is not to say that there were not still some of the gangster elements in the town, but the Emir’s government kept them beat down and in hiding. It was not at all uncommon to see an EX-pirate swinging from the gallows just outside the prison.
Nicky had been practicing since they had sailed from Onslow, he was practicing on extending his mind as far as he could. As they neared Seria, he began catching thoughts of fear and he was sure it was from children. He said nothing to his fathers, but both Naki and Andy knew something was bothering their son. His usual “happy-go-lucky” attitude turned somber and worried.
Finally, Naki cornered him and demanded an explanation. The boy burst into tears and cried, “They are hurting him, making him do terrible things, nasty things Papa, we must help him escape and we can hide him on our ship!”
Naki pulled the child into his arms and asked him, “Can you tell me, son? Maybe Papa Andy and I can do something about it.”
Nicky cried out, “Yes, please, call Papa Andy, I will tell you both all about it.” Naki did as their son asked and he and Nicky sat down and waited for Andy to arrive.
When Andy arrived, Nicky began to speak, “Papas, I have been practicing pushing my mind out as far as I can. Papas, there are children, mostly boys, who are being held captive in the place where we are going. Men are hurting them, beating them and cutting them to make them look horrible. Papas, they are training them to be sex slaves, we gotta stop them and rescue those boys before theys get solded!” When Nicky was very excited, his language collapsed into the gutter talk of his former life.”
Andy spoke very carefully and calmly, he did not want to frighten their son, “Nicky, can you describe to us where these children are being held? What the place looks like and how many men are guarding them?”
Nicky described the building and the buildings nearby. Neither he nor Naki were familiar with Brunei, so they had no idea where in the town of Seria they were being held.
Andy sent a mind call to his own Papa and asked him to come down to his and Naki’s stateroom that something important had come up.
Robby had been going over the morning report that was to be sent to the head office each day, but, something in Andy’s voice told him that whatever was wrong was more important than a routine morning report.
Robby had only been in Seria once before, so he had no information either about just where the children were being held. He suggested that, when they arrived, Naki and Andy take Nicky ashore on a “sight-seeing expedition” and see if he can make closer contact with the children.
EXPLORING
Naki laid out all the invoices for the delivery in Seria and Robby promised him that he would take care of delivering them. They were not due until the load had been completely off-loaded, so it was likely that Naki would be back by that time. The Second Mate volunteered to cover for Andy during his absence.
They hired a taxi to take them on a tour of the town and they set off. Both Naki and Andy were mentally supporting Nicky, lending their strength and letting the young man take the lead. They told the driver to just drive around the town, they were sight-seeing and wanted to see everything the town had to offer.
Seria was spread out along the coast and was only a few blocks wide. The taxi driver thought his passengers were crazy, but they paid in good silver coins up front to hire him and his cab for the entire day.
It was while they were driving through the Kampang Lamut District that Nicky began to cry. Andy told the driver to drive up and down the streets and the driver was shaking his head at his “crazy tourists”! Suddenly, Nicky shrieked and screamed, “THEY ARE GOING TO CUT OFF HIS HAND!”
They were opposite a tumbled down old building that looked abandoned. The driver complained that that place was a very bad place to stop as there was much crime in the area. Andy shoved another handful of Australian Silver ten dollar coins at the driver and told him to wait for them. The silver seemed to make the driver feel more secure.
With Nicky leading, they found a way into the building and they could hear voices and screams in the gloom. Nicky ran headlong towards one end of the old building.
Both Andy and Naki were armed with Australian “Squirt Guns”, .45 caliber machine pistols and both of them had practiced until they were excellent marksmen.
They fired a short burst into the air and Naki shouted in Indonesian, “STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD OTHERWISE YOU ARE ALL DEAD MEN!”
Two men attempted to run out of the building and Andy shot them both in the legs. A huge fat man was seen trying to strangle the child, who was strapped down to a filthy table, the fat man died, gurgling in his own blood!
All the other men backed away from the table and Andy kept his pistol trained on them while Nicky and Naki unstrapped the child and comforted him. Fortunately, the man with the knife had barely begun his crude surgery and all the child would have was a thin scar on his left wrist. Not so, the “would be surgeon”, he was already dead.
Naki was a skilled mind-reader and he stripped the information he needed from the men’s minds in a brutal mind-rape that left them mewing on the floor like a litter of newborn kittens. They would need custodial care for the remainder of their lives. Since that care was not available, they would die early, huddled in an abandoned warehouse, fleeing from imaginary phantoms.
Andy picked up the child and headed back to the street, where they had left the taxi. Andy was a big man and he terrorized the taxi driver as he held a bleeding child in one arm and was shaking the driver with the other. The poor driver was taking corners on two wheels as the cab almost flew back to the ship.
Naki tossed another hand full of ten dollar coins at the driver as the two men ran up the gangway, both shouting for the medic.
Two hours later, the medic, Joel Thomas, finished suturing the child’s incision on his arm and had the boy cleaned up. Still in his arms, Andy carried the child down to his and Naki’s stateroom and sat on the setee with him. Naki was speaking to the child in Indonesian and Andy could see his mate was getting angrier by the minute. Naki’s face was bright red by the time he and the boy had completed their conversation!
Little Nicky was seated beside his Papa Andy, holding the child’s head and speaking quietly to him. The child was too frightened to comprehend mind-speech but, a boy no older than himself was speaking kind words to him and telling him that everything would be alright.
They found out that the child was to be sold as a sex slave to one of the bosses at the refinery and the buyer wanted the boy mutilated. The anger in the stateroom was nearly nuclear and Andy mind-called for his own Papa, telling him that it was time for a talk.
Before the day was much older, the Emir’s police had rounded up what was left of the slaver gang and they were scheduled to be hanged the next day.
The little boy who they had rescued called himself Tal Un. He had no family name that he remembered. During the early evening six young boys came to the ship asking about their brother, Tal. Their spokesman, said to the sailor guarding the gangway, “Pliss, Lord Sir, is ours brudder, Tal Un on yus boat?”
The sailor, who already knew what had taken place, (the grapevine telegraph on any ship, works at the speed of light) kneeled down so he was eyelevel with the boys and said, “Yes, your brother is here. If you will wait for just a moment, I will have someone take you to see him.” He had a Deck Hand guide the boys to Mr. Naki’s and Mr. Andy’s stateroom.
So it was that seven little boys were bedded down in Boy’s Town that evening, their tummies stuffed with food that they did not even have names for and, for the first time in their lives, they slept in a clean, dry bed, covered with warm blankets after having a warm shower with lots of soap that smelled nice, like a lady they had seen once on the street.
They were amazed that no one woke them up to perform some sex act and that the new, still clean clothes they had taken off the night before were still where they had left them.
It would take the rest of the voyage before they ever felt safe again and, by that time, they all had new families. Before The Gabe had sailed, there were six men hanging from nooses outside the prison and several more had found urgent business in Borneo that required their immediate attention!
APPRENTICE TRADER NICKY
The Gabe sailed the next day for Ho Chi Minh City. They had a load of tractors and other farm machinery to deliver and Naki had several orders for rice that he was looking to fill. It was a three day voyage to Ho Chi Minh City and Tal Un followed Nicky around like a puppy.
Nicky didn’t mind, in fact, he thought it was kinda nice to have a younger brother. He had no idea that his papas were thinking the very same thing!
Naki hit the jackpot in Ho Chi Minh City, the rice crop had been heavy and the government was looking for ways to get rid of the surplus rice before it attracted rats.
The real fear was, the rats would attract snakes. One warehouseman had already been attacked by a constrictor and had died as the result of the attack. The rats themselves constituted a very great hazard, as they also carried rabies!
When Naki heard that, he immediately told Robby about the incident and Robby made plans to fumigate the hold that had the rice with sulfur candles. (sulfur candles are very much like railroad flares and emit heavy amounts of poisonous sulfur dioxide gas) It would require several attempts before all the snakes and the rats were cleared from the hold, they hoped!
Their next port was Bangkok, where Naki had arranged to take on bales of raw silk for delivery to Shanghai. Shanghai made them all uncomfortable, but their factor had already collected the transportation fees for delivery of the silk.
As they were retracing their course back from Bangkok, heading for Shanghai, the stewards discovered three small boys and two girls hiding in the cleaning gear locker. No one could figure how they got there, there had been a watch set on the gangway the entire time they were in Bangkok.
More additions to The Boy Locker and a smaller addition to the Girl’s Room were made. The two girls were sisters and looked to be identical twins. They had been turned out of their home because twin girls were considered to be “bad luck”! Before the voyage would end, those two little girls had all the boys wrapped around their little fingers!
Little Tal Un was coming out of his shell as his language skills improved. Andy and Naki found that the child had a quick mind and he soaked up learning like a sponge. He was small for his age, he told them that he had seven summers (he called them warm times) but he looked to be only four or five.
SHANGHAI STOWAWAYS
Shanghai had always been a profitable port for Carson Shipping, despite the criminal element that was headquartered there and this voyage was no different. Naki unloaded their entire cargo of rice at a healthy profit and he collected excellent fees for the transportation of the raw silk. He made arrangement for two hundred cases of Chinese Tea and Shanghai Motors sold him two hundred automobiles at below cost because they were the prior year’s models.
Automobiles and small trucks were always in great demand in Australia, so he was sure he could sell them at a handsome profit.
Naki was sitting at his desk, wondering how he could fill the empty hole in Number Three Hold. Nicky was standing beside his Papa Naki and whispered, “Pumps, Papa, pumps for deep wells.”
He looked in surprise at their son and asked him, “Pumps?” Nicky replied, “Yeah, Papa, Shanghai Iron Foundry has five hundred deep well pumps that they cannot sell because they are too big for their customer.”
Naki wondered how Nicky knew anything about pumps and, how in the world did he know that Shanghai Iron Foundry has miscalculated the customer’s dimensions and cast five hundred pumps before they realized their mistake?”
In any case, he checked out Nicky’s story and bought up all five hundred pumps at a price even he could not believe!
Their last stop for this voyage would be Taipei, where they were scheduled to take on a hundred small farm trucks for delivery to Carson Agri-Supply in Darwin. He would have some room left in the hold, so he planned on seeing if additional trucks were available and he would try to sell them in Onslow.
The Shanghai Police kept a tight cordon around the pier where they were docked, but, just before they sailed, four teenaged boys were discovered hiding in the Fire Equipment locker on the main deck. The boys were all brothers and their Papa had been arrested by the government and he had told them to flee the country.
The Chinese Government had a history of wiping out whole families who had fallen from “grace” with them, so the boys were allowed to stay. The boys were all well-educated and, before long, they were assisting the younger boys in the “locker” in learning English and also learning to read.
THE ROAD HOME
The holds were full and they had no further deliveries to make, so Robby headed The Gabe for Home. They would need to stop in Darwin to deliver the small trucks, but that was the only stop before they returned to their home port.
Naki had told him that it had been a profitable voyage and he was looking forward to some “down time”. The Gabe was due for some maintenance and he figured they would be in Onslow for a month or more.
They hit a late summer storm in the Philippine Sea that tossed them around for a few days, otherwise, their voyage to Darwin was uneventful. They delivered Darwin’s share of the small farm trucks and took on a few passengers for transportation to Onslow.
It was with relief that Andy rang down, “FINISHED WITH ENGINES”, he had the maneuvering watch coming into Onslow. As usual, Nicky stood his watch with him and watched and listened to every order and comment his Papa Andy made. By now, Andy strongly suspected that Nicky was going to follow him to sea.
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TBC
©2016
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This story is a fictional account of a period that begins after The Carson Family and their many ships had settled in Australia and helped civilization to cling to life after much of the world had suffered from Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and chronicles what happens to that family, who had saved many youngsters from death or a life so horrible, death would have been welcomed.. While the story is completely fictional, actual names, characters, places and incidents that might coincide with actions, places, people or events have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty or are the product of my imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The actual shipboard processes, however, are based upon experiences of the author.
This story is copyrighted and may not be reproduced by any means without my express, written permission.
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From Chapter 5: The two young men looked nervous and, finally Andy blurted out, “Dad, we got some problems on board.” Curious, Robby asked, “What kind of problems?” He had an awful feeling that he KNEW what the problems were. They came on two legs! The two young men had collected eight young boys that they had snatched from a coffle of slaves in Jakarta!
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BOY’S TOWN
As the largest cargo carrier in the Carson Fleet, the Gabe was at sea much of the time. Captain Robard Walkingstone and his son, Third Mate Andrew Robard Walkingstone were well known throughout the country. Their exploits were regularly reported in Australia’s leading newspapers and, although he was never mentioned by name, Andy’s beloved mate, Naki was also well known. That Naki’s real name was Crown Prince Nakihito Anjimoto of Japan was never mentioned nor that Naki’s Uncle, Prince Shinzi, was also on board the Gabe. Uncle Shinzi watched over his nephew like a hawk watching a chicken.
To the outside world, Naki was known and Naki Carson, like so many other boys who had been rescued by the Carson Family over the years. That he was a skilled trader and negotiator was also well known throughout the region and many traders suspected he could read minds. In that, they were correct, however he would neither confirm nor deny the other traders’ allegations.
The Gabe had been in Port Onslow for only a few days when rail cars began lining up on the pier with cargo for their next voyage. Naki had asked for some changes to be made on The Gabe, he asked that a bunk room be built that had sufficient space and facilities for thirty youngsters, twenty bunks for boys and ten bunks for girls in a partitioned off area.
The area was to be in Number 2 hold and, once the hatch covers were battened down, it was only accessible from the passageway directly outside of his and Andy’s stateroom.
Robby saw the sense in Naki’s request and the welders were frantically finishing up an area they had dubbed, “Boy’s Town”. It was a label that would stick, most of the rescued children would be boys, although, a few girls would be part of the mix.
Two days later, the Gabe sailed for Manila. Manila was not a huge trading partner, but recently, they had ordered large amounts of building materials and farm machinery. Naki surmised they were opening up an area for small farmers to get a “toehold”
Their entire capacity was filled with farm machinery and building materials bound for Manila. Naki hoped he could arrange a cargo that would carry them onward, to have to return to homeport empty would shame him as Purser! Andy had tried to tell him that was not the case, but, to Naki, “face” was very important!
They departed Onslow on the morning tide and sailed north for Sunda Strait and the Java Sea. From there they would pass into The South China Sea and straight into Manila.
It was an easy voyage, the weather remained mild and none of the terrible storms for which the area was noted, showed up. Fifteen days later, they were nosing into Manila Bay.
They had docking privileges at the Jewels Street Pier in Navotas City, an industrial suburb of Manila. Navotas was a rundown industrial city and Andy was going to run herd on Naki. He was not about to have the love of his life exposed to agents of The Council of Nobles again!
Both Andy and Naki’s Uncle Shinzi would accompany Naki any time he went ashore. Neither of them were willing to take any further chances on Naki’s life OR his freedom!
Naki went ashore with his two most important bodyguards and met with the Carson Shipping Representative. The government was anxious for their shipment and the Factor had already collected payment for both the materials and freight.
It was broad daylight when the party headed back to the ship and both Naki and Andy invited Uncle Shinzi to join them for lunch at the Naval Street Café, a place that had been famous since the American Occupation of The Philippine Islands several hundreds of years before.
Neither Andy nor Uncle Shinzi could see any objections, so they entered the building and were promptly seated. Two hours later and pleasantly stuffed, they began their return to the Gabe. As they walked by a tumbled down warehouse, a small boy called to them, “Meesters yous wanna feels good?”
Both Naki and Andy knew immediately what was going on, although Uncle Shinzi required a hurried explanation. Andy and Naki knelt down beside the child, he could not have been more than four or five years old. It was hard to tell, the child was so dirty and obviously he had not been eating well for some time, his stomach was bloated and his arms and legs were merely skin covered bones and he smelled abominably.
Both Andy and Naki were fluent Tagalog speakers and both were accomplished mind speakers. Despite the child’s terrible smell, Andy put his arms around the child and got him to tell them where his “brothers” were hiding. They had been through this routine before and they all knew just what to expect.
Both young men ducked into the abandoned building and were confronted by ten young boys ranging in age from about five years old to twelve or thirteen years old. Both Naki and Andy sat on the dirt floor holding ‘Paco’, the boy who had confronted them on the street.
They took it slow, saying nothing and doing nothing as the boys looked them over. Finally, the oldest boy asked, “Yous do’n want usins? Yous no like good feel?”
Naki held onto Andy and spoke slowly to the boys, “No, we do not want you boys for sex things, but, if you will come with us, we will feed you, give a clean safe place to sleep and take you all away from this horrible place!”
The older boy shouted, “Us’n No Slavos!”
Andy replied in a very calm voice, although he was seething in anger inside, “No, you are not and will not be slaves, you are all free boys. We will take you with us on our ship and give you new homes and new families in Australia. We are part of the Carson Shipping Clan and we will give you all a new life in our land, a life that does not include you selling your bodies to perverts and sex fiends in order to survive.”
There was not a dry eye among the boys and both Andy and Naki had a hard time keeping from tears themselves. They told themselves that the could cry later, but they were kept so busy taking care of the the new boys, they never found the opportunity to cry. The gangway watch was not surprised when Andy and Naki, accompanied by Uncle Shinzi, led a group of eleven youngsters up the gangway. In a few minutes, the demand for hot water was noted in the Engine Room.
Cookie brought sandwiches and a green leaf salad into the new “bunkroom” and set out paper plates for the boys who were trying on new clothes that had been stacked on a table in their new home. Some of the boys had never seen underwear and had to be shown how to tie their shoes, they had never worn shoes before.
As soon as they had showered and eaten, they grew sleepy and Andy showed them how to slip into the bunks that had clean sheets and clean blankets on them and were not crawling with “wildlife”! Uncle Shinzi told Andy and Naki that he would sit with the children while they got something to eat themselves and he whispered, “You need a shower before you eat, you may have bugs!”
Andy and Naki showered together, they had long ago given up attempts at modesty between them. They did, indeed, have “bugs” and they sprinkled bug powder liberally around their private parts and any place that had hair where the bugs could hide.
The Gabe spent the next two days offloading cargo. Naki managed to arrange for a cargo of lumber to be delivered to a furniture manufacturer in Jakarta. He then got on the radio and managed to get a cargo that would take them from Jakarta to Singapore. The Singapore cargo was bulky, but light in weight. It was stamped metal parts that would become chassis for electronic equipment.
Naki was becoming skilled at negotiating smaller cargo lots that he was able to purchase outright. His previous ventures of that sort has proven so profitable, the Board of Carson Shipping had given him “carte blanche” authorization to purchase an unlimited amount of private cargo in the name of Carson Trading Company.
In Jakarta, Naki had purchased 5,000 tons of high value furniture grade tropical hardwoods, all wrapped in oiled paper. He filled a large part of the forward hold with the wood.
They arrived in Singapore several days later and began offloading cargo as soon as they were tied up.
SINGAPORE SLING
The offloading was going slowly as the cargo from Manila was easily damaged. Naki decided to go ashore to see if he could replace the cargo they were discharging. He knew he could not go ashore alone, so he waited until Andy was off watch.
He stepped ashore with high hopes of filling up Number Two cargo hold. He was surrounded by his usual body guard, Andy and Uncle Shinzi. Both were “loaded for boar”! They were carrying enough fire power to start a small revolution.
They called at two shipping agencies until they learned of a trader who was looking for transport of large earth moving equipment. They went to speak with a Mr. Bulawsi of Gahki Machine Company, where Naki negotiated a very favorable contract to purchase the machinery outright in the name of Carson Traders.
They told Mr. Bulawsi that they were tied up at the Keppel Street Pier and he produced a Performance Bond for the full amount of the purchase to be delivered the next day to the ship.
It was still early in the afternoon, so the group decided to walk back to the ship as it was only a few blocks away. He had a grin on his face and Andy knew right away that he had some devious plan hatched in his mind. He was pretty sure what it involved as he had spotted his mate looking in the open door of an old warehouse as they walked by on their way to Gahki Machine Company.
He was not wrong. Uncle Shinzi only smiled as the two young men slipped into the door of an old warehouse. Inside were a dozen young boys, some of whom were injured. They had bloody wounds on their backs that Andy immediately identified as whip marks!
Two of the boys were so badly injured that they could not walk and had to be carried. Andy and Naki promised the boys that they would be given new lives and new families and would live in a place where they were safe and did not have to performs sex acts in order to eat. He further promised that whips would never be used on them again! EVER!
With some hesitation, the boys followed Naki and Andy out of the old warehouse. Andy was carrying two small boys who could not walk because of their injuries and Naki held another in his arms.
The youngsters drew back in fear when they spotted Uncle Shinzi, but he swooped down and picked up two small boys in his massive arms and cuddled one on each hip as they headed back to the ship.
They were followed by some gang members, but the size of Uncle Shinzi and Andy Walkingstone made them fearful of getting too close to those “walking mountains”!
As they boarded the Gabe, the boys that Andy was carrying were riding his hips like they were in a sling and the crew laughingly called them “Andy’s Singapore Sling”! It was a name that stuck and thereafter whenever Andy brought rescued children on board, they were referred to as his “Singapore Sling”!
They took on cargo the next day and sailed the day after that, on their way to Busan, Korea.
BUSAN HIGH JINKS
They sailed out through the Singapore Straits into the South China Sea and headed north for Korea. The two Koreas had merged sometime after the collapse and were a single country once again.
The old regime of the North had disappeared completely and, with the assistance of Naki’s Father and his home country of Japan, the New Korea was making a rapid comeback. Their industry was surging and once vacant land was being returned to productive farming, despite that the new regime in Japan no longer was helping them.
Korea was a dangerous place for Naki, it was known that agents of the Council of Nobles had operatives in the country. Andy had insisted that Naki remain on board the Gabe and he would perform any transactions through Andy.
That did not sit well with Naki, but he was faced with Uncle Shinzi sitting on him, if necessary, to insure that he stayed on board the ship. He was to learn that Andy was nearly as sharp a trader as himself!
They off loaded the Busan Cargo and Andy was hard pressed to find a cargo to fill the void in the hold. It was not until he saw a billboard advertising Korea motors Corporation that he had an idea. The next day, he took the train to Seoul, the capital and where the headquarters of Korea Motors was located.
There, he called on the Vice President of Sales and introduced himself. The man, Joel Yeung, spoke perfect English and said that he had met the Carson Shipping Trader, a Mr. Naki Carson sometime before. Andy replied, “Naki is my Life Partner.”
Joel Yeung didn’t bat an eyebrow and continued, “I have two hundred small trucks for you, they are already on their way to Busan and should be there this evening.” He showed Andy a copy of the shipping order and then asked, “Would you be interested in five hundred four cylinder engines and transmissions?”
Andy asked the dimensions of the engines and transmissions and then did some “guesstimate calculations” in his head before replying, “Yes, I know where I can sell them, so we will buy them outright from you.” He produced his trading credentials and signed the sales order on the spot.
He hoped that he was doing the right thing as he had only watched Naki in operation before.
As it turned out, Naki was very proud of him and claimed that he, himself, could not have done any better!
A TRAIN RIDE
With his business completed, Andy caught the afternoon train back to Busan. It would be midnight before he could get back to the ship, but he did not like being separated from his mate any longer than was absolutely necessary.
He was dozing in his private sleeper when he heard a commotion outside his door. He opened the door and spotted a rail official manhandling a young boy, who appeared to be of mixed Asian and Caucasian heritage.
Thinking fast, he hollered at the man and said, “Why are you terrorizing my son?” Andy was obviously Caucasian and the Rail Conductor immediately apologized and replied, “I am very sorry sir, I thought he was a stowaway and I was going to put him off the train at the next station, sir.”
Andy spoke passable Korean and he said, “Son, you should be in bed, we have a busy day tomorrow!” The child looked a bit bewildered, but he scooted into safety in the nice man’s private compartment.
As soon as Andy closed the door, he spoke in Korean and said, “You are safe now, they think you are my son. You can sleep here. I will be getting off at Busan Station, where my friends are waiting for me.”
The young boy leaped into Andy’s lap and curled up. He was obviously exhausted and he fell asleep almost immediately. Andy sat on the setee with the boy in his lap. As Andy ran his fingers through the little boy’s hair, the child smiled in his sleep and let out a contented coo.
Andy thought, “I am pretty sure he is on his own, could I….. Could we…. Would he be our son?” It felt so right and the child even looked a bit like himself.
As the train pulled into Busan Terminal, the child woke up and had a fearful look on his face. He was sure the man would leave him in the train station. Andy said gently in Korean, “I don’t know your name yet, but, would you be my and my partner’s son. Live with us on our ship and grow up as our boy?”
The child said, “Me splek onglis, you not things sex do me? Yous no hurted me? Yous gots fud me eat?”
Andy smiled and held the child close, despite his rank smell and replied, again in Korean so he could be sure the child understood him, “Yes, you would be my and my partner’s own son and live with us on our ship. I am the Third Mate on a cargo ship and my Papa is the Captain. My mate is the ship’s Purser, the man who handles all the money.”
The child looked up at this strange white man and looked hard in his eyes, trying to detect any sign of falsehood. Finding only love and concern in the man’s face, he replied, “Me OOK SON LEE, me like yous. Yous give OOK SON LEE nice hugs”
So it was that Andy Walkingstone dismounted the train and met his Father, Captain Robard Walkingstone and his Life Partner, Purser Naki Carson with a “hip hugger hanging from his waist.
Robby knew his son well and just smiled. Naki peered at the child and laughed, he said in perfect Korean, “He even looks like you!” He bent down and kissed the child on the forehead and whispered in Korean, Welcome home, son!”
The child insisted he be given a “Merican Name” and after some thought, Andy and Naki came up Nicholas Andrew Walkingstone. He would be called Nicky, a name very similar to his “other Daddy’s name.
Nicky was very intelligent, although he had never been to school, he absorbed knowledge like a sponge. His English improved daily and he demanded of his Daddies that he learn to read.
He refused to tell them how he had survived or where he had come from and Andy and Naki really did not want to know. All that was important was that Nicky was their son. It would be the very first thing they did when they got back to Australia, that they went before the local judge and formally adopted the boy.
ON TO JAPAN
They sailed for their last call in the north, Tokyo. Winter was beginning to close in and the seas were violent and very rough as they made the crossing. Nicky seemed to thrive and loved standing on the Bridge with his Daddy Andy as Andy stood his watch. The boy never seemed to get seasick and every meal he ate enough for two people. His gaunt features rounded out and, by the time they reached Tokyo, he had outgrown his trousers around the waist and the legs were “high-water”!
Naki stayed hidden on the ship, never showing his face to the outside world. They were taking no chances that the minions of the Council of Nobles would recognize him and attempt to kidnap him.
Andy did take Nicky ashore and bought him an arm load of new clothing that actually fit him. Andy chose several new pairs of shoes and Nicky asked why so many, he could only wear one pair at a time. Andy whispered in his ear and said, “Cause I like buying shoes for you!”
When they got back to the ship, Nicky proudly showed his other Daddy all his new clothes and thought nothing of stripping down to bare skin to try on all the clothes his Daddy Andy had bought for him. He knew, by then, that neither of his Daddies would do anything to him and that they would kill anyone who tried!
He admired his Daddy Andy, his huge size and muscles impressed the boy. Nicky vowed to himself that he was going to be as strong as his Daddy Andrew and as smart as his Daddy Naki as soon as possible!
The boy would achieve both goals as he grew up. However, no matter how big or how smart he became, he was always his Daddies’ First Boy.
THE RETURN TO AUSSIE LAND
With their holds full of trade cargo for Australia, the Gabe headed for home. They all felt that it had been a profitable voyage and better, Andy and Naki had found a son. Still better, Captain Robard Walkingstone had discovered a Grandson! As far as Robby was concerned, the boy walked on water. He would sit by the hour reading to him and telling him outrageous sea stories.
It took Nicky a while to understand that Gampa’s tales were just stories and that sea monsters and giants did not really exist.
Nicky spent a lot of time with his Grandfather and it was beginning to look like there just might be another mate in the Family. Nicky seemed to understand what his Grandfather was telling him about ships and how they worked. He was interested in the Engine Room, but it was soon apparent that he really loved the Bridge.
As they sailed back towards home, the weather turned warmer and the seas smoothed out and became like a sheet of glass. It was an easy trip home, they had run out of the winter storms as soon as they entered the Philippine Sea.
Nicky mingled with the other boys who had been rescued and were living in “Boys’ Town”. It was a friendship that would last a lifetime and, when it became necessary, Nicky had his own “Protection Squad”!
By the time they reached Onslow Bay, Nicky was reading simple books and working arithmetic problems. True, he was slow, but he had the determination to learn and be like his Daddies!
That he was a leader was evident, no matter where he went on the ship, there were at least two boys from Boys’ Town covering his back. It was decided that those two boys who had been collected on that voyage would become permanent residents of Boys’ Town.
As they pulled into their pier at Onslow, there was the usual crowd on the pier, waiting to greet the children who had been collected during the voyage. Nicky and his two Boy Body Guards hugged each boy as he departed the ship.
They had all become close friends during their stay on The Gabe and, in later years, they would form a group that worked closely with Nicky and his two body guards to form a “flying squad” that went with the Flag Ship and would perform daring deeds as they rescued children wherever The Gabe sailed.
That, however, would be a couple of years in the future and, by then Nicky would be the Captain of The Gabe and his Daddy Andy would be the Superintendent of the Carson Fleet.
The offloading of the Gabe went swiftly, orders for cargo had piled up during the Gabe’s absence. The refinery at Brunei was expanding and steel was badly needed. It was going to be a “turn-around” sailing.
As soon as off-loading was completed, the steel that was being accumulated pier side in preparation for loading was assigned for the refinery.. Hardly had the incoming cargo cleared the hatches, steel was being swung aboard by the cranes. It was scheduled to be a heavy load.
Andy and his Dad, Robard, filled the Board in on what had taken place during the voyage. Andy was recalled to the ship before the report was complete, the workmen were making permanent the temporary partitions that had enclosed Boys’ Town and they needed his authorization to complete the job.
While he was aboard, he and Naki interviewed several instructors who were going to be the teachers for Nicky and any additional children they collected in the future.
Both he and Naki wanted to employ strong mind-speakers for the job, they both wanted to be sure that Niki was able to develop his mind speaking abilities to the fullest. They already knew that his raw talent was more powerful than most adults, including themselves.
They both suspected that it was Nicky who had caused the physical damage to the warehouse where they had discovered a group of boys who had been held captive and were being rented out to wealthy businessmen in Manila. Whenever they questioned their son about the matter, he would merely grin and provide no answers.
TURN-AROUND SAILING
In less than a week, the Gabe was loaded and they were ready to head to Brunei, loaded to the limit with prefabricated steel parts for the refinery addition.
As they were sailing out of Onslow Harbor, Naki was frantically tallying up the cargo manifests and Andy had the Bridge as they pulled away from the pier. Nicky was standing in the corner of the Bridge watching proudly as his Papa maneuvered the huge vessel away from the pier and out of the harbor. He had plans of his own and he was determined that he would follow in his Papa’s footsteps!
It was a calm and peaceful voyage up the west coast of Australia. They passed through Sunda Straits without incident. The long ago island of Krakatoa had left small islets along the channel, after it had blown up in a fiery explosion of volcanic fury several centuries before.
The Jalan Raja Isteri Refinery was located in Seria on the Northwest Coast of the country. It was not a large town and it was totally dedicated to the refinery. There were no “tourist” attractions of any kind, not even a snack bar or sleazy hotel.
In its earlier days, Seria had been a den of pirates, but, now, its inhabitants either worked for the refinery or in some business that supported the refinery. That is not to say that there were not still some of the gangster elements in the town, but the Emir’s government kept them beat down and in hiding. It was not at all uncommon to see an EX-pirate swinging from the gallows just outside the prison.
Nicky had been practicing since they had sailed from Onslow, he was practicing on extending his mind as far as he could. As they neared Seria, he began catching thoughts of fear and he was sure it was from children. He said nothing to his fathers, but both Naki and Andy knew something was bothering their son. His usual “happy-go-lucky” attitude turned somber and worried.
Finally, Naki cornered him and demanded an explanation. The boy burst into tears and cried, “They are hurting him, making him do terrible things, nasty things Papa, we must help him escape and we can hide him on our ship!”
Naki pulled the child into his arms and asked him, “Can you tell me, son? Maybe Papa Andy and I can do something about it.”
Nicky cried out, “Yes, please, call Papa Andy, I will tell you both all about it.” Naki did as their son asked and he and Nicky sat down and waited for Andy to arrive.
When Andy arrived, Nicky began to speak, “Papas, I have been practicing pushing my mind out as far as I can. Papas, there are children, mostly boys, who are being held captive in the place where we are going. Men are hurting them, beating them and cutting them to make them look horrible. Papas, they are training them to be sex slaves, we gotta stop them and rescue those boys before theys get solded!” When Nicky was very excited, his language collapsed into the gutter talk of his former life.”
Andy spoke very carefully and calmly, he did not want to frighten their son, “Nicky, can you describe to us where these children are being held? What the place looks like and how many men are guarding them?”
Nicky described the building and the buildings nearby. Neither he nor Naki were familiar with Brunei, so they had no idea where in the town of Seria they were being held.
Andy sent a mind call to his own Papa and asked him to come down to his and Naki’s stateroom that something important had come up.
Robby had been going over the morning report that was to be sent to the head office each day, but, something in Andy’s voice told him that whatever was wrong was more important than a routine morning report.
Robby had only been in Seria once before, so he had no information either about just where the children were being held. He suggested that, when they arrived, Naki and Andy take Nicky ashore on a “sight-seeing expedition” and see if he can make closer contact with the children.
EXPLORING
Naki laid out all the invoices for the delivery in Seria and Robby promised him that he would take care of delivering them. They were not due until the load had been completely off-loaded, so it was likely that Naki would be back by that time. The Second Mate volunteered to cover for Andy during his absence.
They hired a taxi to take them on a tour of the town and they set off. Both Naki and Andy were mentally supporting Nicky, lending their strength and letting the young man take the lead. They told the driver to just drive around the town, they were sight-seeing and wanted to see everything the town had to offer.
Seria was spread out along the coast and was only a few blocks wide. The taxi driver thought his passengers were crazy, but they paid in good silver coins up front to hire him and his cab for the entire day.
It was while they were driving through the Kampang Lamut District that Nicky began to cry. Andy told the driver to drive up and down the streets and the driver was shaking his head at his “crazy tourists”! Suddenly, Nicky shrieked and screamed, “THEY ARE GOING TO CUT OFF HIS HAND!”
They were opposite a tumbled down old building that looked abandoned. The driver complained that that place was a very bad place to stop as there was much crime in the area. Andy shoved another handful of Australian Silver ten dollar coins at the driver and told him to wait for them. The silver seemed to make the driver feel more secure.
With Nicky leading, they found a way into the building and they could hear voices and screams in the gloom. Nicky ran headlong towards one end of the old building.
Both Andy and Naki were armed with Australian “Squirt Guns”, .45 caliber machine pistols and both of them had practiced until they were excellent marksmen.
They fired a short burst into the air and Naki shouted in Indonesian, “STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD OTHERWISE YOU ARE ALL DEAD MEN!”
Two men attempted to run out of the building and Andy shot them both in the legs. A huge fat man was seen trying to strangle the child, who was strapped down to a filthy table, the fat man died, gurgling in his own blood!
All the other men backed away from the table and Andy kept his pistol trained on them while Nicky and Naki unstrapped the child and comforted him. Fortunately, the man with the knife had barely begun his crude surgery and all the child would have was a thin scar on his left wrist. Not so, the “would be surgeon”, he was already dead.
Naki was a skilled mind-reader and he stripped the information he needed from the men’s minds in a brutal mind-rape that left them mewing on the floor like a litter of newborn kittens. They would need custodial care for the remainder of their lives. Since that care was not available, they would die early, huddled in an abandoned warehouse, fleeing from imaginary phantoms.
Andy picked up the child and headed back to the street, where they had left the taxi. Andy was a big man and he terrorized the taxi driver as he held a bleeding child in one arm and was shaking the driver with the other. The poor driver was taking corners on two wheels as the cab almost flew back to the ship.
Naki tossed another hand full of ten dollar coins at the driver as the two men ran up the gangway, both shouting for the medic.
Two hours later, the medic, Joel Thomas, finished suturing the child’s incision on his arm and had the boy cleaned up. Still in his arms, Andy carried the child down to his and Naki’s stateroom and sat on the setee with him. Naki was speaking to the child in Indonesian and Andy could see his mate was getting angrier by the minute. Naki’s face was bright red by the time he and the boy had completed their conversation!
Little Nicky was seated beside his Papa Andy, holding the child’s head and speaking quietly to him. The child was too frightened to comprehend mind-speech but, a boy no older than himself was speaking kind words to him and telling him that everything would be alright.
They found out that the child was to be sold as a sex slave to one of the bosses at the refinery and the buyer wanted the boy mutilated. The anger in the stateroom was nearly nuclear and Andy mind-called for his own Papa, telling him that it was time for a talk.
Before the day was much older, the Emir’s police had rounded up what was left of the slaver gang and they were scheduled to be hanged the next day.
The little boy who they had rescued called himself Tal Un. He had no family name that he remembered. During the early evening six young boys came to the ship asking about their brother, Tal. Their spokesman, said to the sailor guarding the gangway, “Pliss, Lord Sir, is ours brudder, Tal Un on yus boat?”
The sailor, who already knew what had taken place, (the grapevine telegraph on any ship, works at the speed of light) kneeled down so he was eyelevel with the boys and said, “Yes, your brother is here. If you will wait for just a moment, I will have someone take you to see him.” He had a Deck Hand guide the boys to Mr. Naki’s and Mr. Andy’s stateroom.
So it was that seven little boys were bedded down in Boy’s Town that evening, their tummies stuffed with food that they did not even have names for and, for the first time in their lives, they slept in a clean, dry bed, covered with warm blankets after having a warm shower with lots of soap that smelled nice, like a lady they had seen once on the street.
They were amazed that no one woke them up to perform some sex act and that the new, still clean clothes they had taken off the night before were still where they had left them.
It would take the rest of the voyage before they ever felt safe again and, by that time, they all had new families. Before The Gabe had sailed, there were six men hanging from nooses outside the prison and several more had found urgent business in Borneo that required their immediate attention!
APPRENTICE TRADER NICKY
The Gabe sailed the next day for Ho Chi Minh City. They had a load of tractors and other farm machinery to deliver and Naki had several orders for rice that he was looking to fill. It was a three day voyage to Ho Chi Minh City and Tal Un followed Nicky around like a puppy.
Nicky didn’t mind, in fact, he thought it was kinda nice to have a younger brother. He had no idea that his papas were thinking the very same thing!
Naki hit the jackpot in Ho Chi Minh City, the rice crop had been heavy and the government was looking for ways to get rid of the surplus rice before it attracted rats.
The real fear was, the rats would attract snakes. One warehouseman had already been attacked by a constrictor and had died as the result of the attack. The rats themselves constituted a very great hazard, as they also carried rabies!
When Naki heard that, he immediately told Robby about the incident and Robby made plans to fumigate the hold that had the rice with sulfur candles. (sulfur candles are very much like railroad flares and emit heavy amounts of poisonous sulfur dioxide gas) It would require several attempts before all the snakes and the rats were cleared from the hold, they hoped!
Their next port was Bangkok, where Naki had arranged to take on bales of raw silk for delivery to Shanghai. Shanghai made them all uncomfortable, but their factor had already collected the transportation fees for delivery of the silk.
As they were retracing their course back from Bangkok, heading for Shanghai, the stewards discovered three small boys and two girls hiding in the cleaning gear locker. No one could figure how they got there, there had been a watch set on the gangway the entire time they were in Bangkok.
More additions to The Boy Locker and a smaller addition to the Girl’s Room were made. The two girls were sisters and looked to be identical twins. They had been turned out of their home because twin girls were considered to be “bad luck”! Before the voyage would end, those two little girls had all the boys wrapped around their little fingers!
Little Tal Un was coming out of his shell as his language skills improved. Andy and Naki found that the child had a quick mind and he soaked up learning like a sponge. He was small for his age, he told them that he had seven summers (he called them warm times) but he looked to be only four or five.
SHANGHAI STOWAWAYS
Shanghai had always been a profitable port for Carson Shipping, despite the criminal element that was headquartered there and this voyage was no different. Naki unloaded their entire cargo of rice at a healthy profit and he collected excellent fees for the transportation of the raw silk. He made arrangement for two hundred cases of Chinese Tea and Shanghai Motors sold him two hundred automobiles at below cost because they were the prior year’s models.
Automobiles and small trucks were always in great demand in Australia, so he was sure he could sell them at a handsome profit.
Naki was sitting at his desk, wondering how he could fill the empty hole in Number Three Hold. Nicky was standing beside his Papa Naki and whispered, “Pumps, Papa, pumps for deep wells.”
He looked in surprise at their son and asked him, “Pumps?” Nicky replied, “Yeah, Papa, Shanghai Iron Foundry has five hundred deep well pumps that they cannot sell because they are too big for their customer.”
Naki wondered how Nicky knew anything about pumps and, how in the world did he know that Shanghai Iron Foundry has miscalculated the customer’s dimensions and cast five hundred pumps before they realized their mistake?”
In any case, he checked out Nicky’s story and bought up all five hundred pumps at a price even he could not believe!
Their last stop for this voyage would be Taipei, where they were scheduled to take on a hundred small farm trucks for delivery to Carson Agri-Supply in Darwin. He would have some room left in the hold, so he planned on seeing if additional trucks were available and he would try to sell them in Onslow.
The Shanghai Police kept a tight cordon around the pier where they were docked, but, just before they sailed, four teenaged boys were discovered hiding in the Fire Equipment locker on the main deck. The boys were all brothers and their Papa had been arrested by the government and he had told them to flee the country.
The Chinese Government had a history of wiping out whole families who had fallen from “grace” with them, so the boys were allowed to stay. The boys were all well-educated and, before long, they were assisting the younger boys in the “locker” in learning English and also learning to read.
THE ROAD HOME
The holds were full and they had no further deliveries to make, so Robby headed The Gabe for Home. They would need to stop in Darwin to deliver the small trucks, but that was the only stop before they returned to their home port.
Naki had told him that it had been a profitable voyage and he was looking forward to some “down time”. The Gabe was due for some maintenance and he figured they would be in Onslow for a month or more.
They hit a late summer storm in the Philippine Sea that tossed them around for a few days, otherwise, their voyage to Darwin was uneventful. They delivered Darwin’s share of the small farm trucks and took on a few passengers for transportation to Onslow.
It was with relief that Andy rang down, “FINISHED WITH ENGINES”, he had the maneuvering watch coming into Onslow. As usual, Nicky stood his watch with him and watched and listened to every order and comment his Papa Andy made. By now, Andy strongly suspected that Nicky was going to follow him to sea.
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TBC